Segmented or “Entrenched” Electoral Systems
Segmented or “Entrenched” Electoral Systems

Summary/Abstract: The author discusses the problem of segmented or “entrenched” electoral systems, which are not widely known or applied in the electoral practice of democratic states. However, in the post-communist states of Eastern Europe they have come to the forefront. Their main purpose is to combine the principles of the majority and the proportional electoral systems as well as to both highlight the advantages and mitigate the shortcomings of both. The main finding of the study is that there isn’t a universal model of relations between segmented electoral systems and parliamentary party systems. Segmented systems have in some countries produced the effects of the majority system and in others of the proportional systems. Institutional factors causing those differences cannot be positively established.

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